Roderick Specializes In Smart, Uplifting Music

Some music is meant to make money; other music has nobler designs.

Some people get lucky and score on both accounts. Libby Roderick is one of those musicians who has higher goals in mind but has also had fair success moving product, as they like to say in the music biz.

Roderick, who will perform Friday at Spokane’s Unitarian Universalist Church, has gained a large following in a short time making music that’s smart, well-crafted and uplifting.

She made her first record, “If You See A Dream,” in 1990 and received such positive response that she had to form a record company to deal with the demand. Since then, two other records, “Thinking Like A Mountain” and “If The World Were My Lover,” have bolstered her reputation.

Her song “How Could Anyone” has become an oft-played staple in the folk world.

In five years, Roderick has sold 25,000 copies of her three CDs. That’s not enough to make a ripple in the major-label world, but it’s a good number among folk-oriented independents.

Roderick may travel in folkie circles, but she isn’t afraid to stretch the form: She dips into swing now and again and dabbles with interesting rhythms, often with a nod to Native American traditions.

In concert, she is said to be witty, warm and engaging. Her fans are unabashed about referring to a Roderick show as a healing event.

“Libby is easily one of the most uplifting performers to take our stage,” says Arnold Greenberg, owner of the Left Bank Cafe in Blue Hill, Maine. “Her engaging warmth, concerned passion and skilled songwriting is healing and entertaining at the same time. She is winning devoted fans every time she plays here.”

Roderick is a native of Anchorage, Alaska, where she continues to live. As a child, she spent a year in India with her Peace Corps parents and graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a degree in American studies.

Before becoming a musician, Roderick worked as a TV and print news reporter, radio consultant, nuclear weapons educator and writer on Alaska Native issues and women’s history. She began singing professionally in 1984 as part of an a cappella group called Voices. She has been a solo performer since 1990.

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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT Libby Roderick will perform Friday at 8 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4340 W. Fort George Wright Drive. Tickets are $12 in advance ($15 at door), call 325-SEAT.